mid-day Opinion: About time Bandra East looked like Bandra West

Representation pic

The dust clouds seemed to have settled post the massive demolition drive at Garib Nagar, outside the railways station in Bandra East. Now, the Western Railway will begin developing the cleared space into a circulating area for train passengers.

Officials have been quoted as saying the area will be similar to the space outside the West entrance to Bandra station.

It will ensure that passengers can take a breath, rather than have to go directly onto the road upon exiting the station.

A part of the area will also be taken over for an integrated Bandra Terminus, similar to Mumbai Central Terminus, we learnt.

While plans are still being drawn up, we want to see visionary development at this site. The East side had the illegal shanties, some three floors in heights, mounds of debris and general squalour.

Commuters had to meander through and finally, end up with auto rickshaws not going by the meter, simply because there was nobody and no way to lay down the law and no option for the harried and hurried.

The most exasperating part was that once one exited the train, there was the platform and no other space where commuters could just sit and gather their things or even rest for five minutes or two. One was directly on the main road, in the crush of commuters, auto-rickshaws and a few buses. It was complete chaos as commuters tried crossing over.

A little area for passengers, a clean, high quality integrated complex with clear directions is what was long overdue for Bandra (East). More power to station complexes spelling clean and safe for Mumbai.